Chapter 13

Pulling away, she bit her lips. "I shall not tell."

He laughed, "Lusty minx."

Her hands had found an intuitive rhythm, one stroking as she sucked, the other lightly cupping and squeezing his swollen stones. When she dove too deeply, Louisa immediately knew her mistake and gagged a little, and he groaned as her throat clamped his sensitive tip.

"Easy," Julius laced his hand into her hair, "Walk before you run."

She felt his entire body tensing and she hew fighting the insane urge to come…until it was too much. In the next instant, he pulled her mouth from him and tightened her hand around him while he dragged her in for a kiss.

"Finish me with your hand," he said, falling back. "I won't taint your mouth…not—not yet."

Wetness oozed from the bulging crown, slicking her soft palm as she rubbed and stroked him. Julius' breath was punching out of his body and and driving in harsh rushes as he got closer… and closer and as he peaked, the climax ruptured through him.

His shout echoed off the walls as hot seed shot between her fingers, his whole-body shuddering. After a desperate breath, he fell back against the chaise' panting under the power of his release.

Flushed with heat and want, Louisa lifted her fingers to her lips and licked, her small tongue licked over the tip of her index before she sunk one long digit between her pink lips.

Julius grabbed her hand and he pulled in, upsetting her balance, so she fell atop him and gave her a hot, demanding kiss. She clung to him, opening herself completely to his passion as his hands gripped her bottom, pulling her tight against him.

She straddled a thigh, sighing at the contact with his muscular form. Her woman's place was throbbing, aching, shockingly wet and Julius felt it on his thigh.

"No underthings, Louisa?" he teased. "Naughty minx."

Gripping her hips, he held her tight, and nudged deeper against her sex, hitting her tender nub, and her breath burst free, the soft sounds turned into a moan.

"Pleasure yourself, sweetling." He said, holding her hips and encouraging her to rock against the hard trunk of his thigh, gasping at the blissful friction sizzling up her spine.

Gripping his shoulder, she couldn't stop if she tried. As she rode his tense, inflexible thigh, she felt another appendage pressing into her outer thigh. His member was as hard and heavy as a steel pike, and when she squirmed against it, he groaned, the rumble hitting the back of her throat.

"Focus on your bliss," he ordered before claiming her mouth, in a devastating kiss just as his fingers dove between her folds, sliding along the slickness, and her entire body spasmed. When he found her nubbin, his touch was merciless.

Her body shuddered, as she paused in rubbing on his thigh in favor of pressing into his hand, grinding into it. His thumb and finger rubbed and flicked and pressed and circled; the simple but increasingly complex motion, repeated with unyielding accuracy, until she was writhing, her gasps leaving her chest turned into breathless screams.

One last, hard swipe with his thumb down the center of her and she splintered, screaming, her core spasming, twisting into tight coils that spiraled out in harsh throbs through her body.

He kisses his way along her jawline, his mouth finding hers, he captured her lips in a brutal kiss, hard, raw and carnal, kissing her for so long Louisa was surprised she didn't faint for the lack of air. He kiss gentled a until it was nothing by a mere brush of their lips.

Gently, he lifted her and carried her to bed before dipping inside the bath chamber, wet a cloth before returning. He had gathered her close, gently rubbing her back and cleaned between her legs with a warm washcloth, soothing the tender folds.

"Rest," he said. "You did well tonight, sweetheart. More than I even expected."

The powerful orgasm paired with the licentious acts she had so willingly participated in, and the shock of having Julius care for her were making a sluggish feeling descend on her.

Reaching out, she held this face, "Would you stay with me this night?"

He twisted his head to kiss her palm and even before the words left his mouth, she knew what he was going to say. Her heart fell a little. "Not tonight, Louisa, but I will be near."

Dropping her hand, she smiled. "I'll hold you to that."

Kissing her brow, Julius replied. "Sleep well."

The following morning, Louisa could not find Julius for the life of her, and when she did, it was not in a place she had expected him to be. Somehow, Julius had converted an unused salon into a pugilism ring, ropes and all.

She stepped in the moment a punch caught Julius in the midsection and he lurched back, shirtless and clad only in a pair of faded tan breeches and boots. Though he grunted, he bounced lightly on the balls of his feet, his arms up in guard position once more.

His opponent was a large man, dark haired and muscle bound was showing signs of fatigue, his dark hair drenched with perspiration, his broad chest heaving as he and Julius circled each other in the ring.

The opponent rebounded, letting his fists fly in a jab-jab-middle strike combination; Julius dodged them all and replied in kind but his blows were the quicker of the two; punch, duck, punch, a feign to the left.

It looked like a dance, a choregraphed one, but brutal in nature.

Almost hypnotized, she traced the lines of his muscled chest, at how the filtered light glinted off the sweat on his chest and the whorls of wet bronze hair on his carved torso narrowed to his midsection.

A sliver of hair narrowed below his bellybutton, and it vanished into his waistband. He was so boldly male, so virile in every edge and line of his chiseled form.

A punch sent the challenger staggering and falling on ropes. "Devil and damn, Your Grace, I give, I give."

While the other man was leaning against the rope, stripping off the strips that found his hands and dropping them to the floor, Julius was reaching for a waterskin at the side of the ring.

"Only five bouts and you're on the ropes?" he laughed. "Are you sure you are the best in the coffers of the Gentleman Jackson club, Rowe?"

"You fight like a man possessed sometimes," Rowe snorted. "If I were on any judge, I would say you would win a competition if there one. You're a spy one, Your Grace—" he nodded over Julius's shoulder. "—and a fortunate one as well. I believe you wife has come to see you."

Spinning on the ball of his feet, Julius rested his hands on the rope and Louisa unstuck her feet from where they felt nailed and approached him; so close, she could feel the heat pouring on him and smell the intoxicating music of his cologne and sweat.

Her eyes roamed over his face, at the droplets of sweat beading on his forehead and dripping down his temple. Turning her head a little, she spotted a rag on a stool and plucked it before wiping it over his face.

"Fight valiantly today, and yet I do thee wrong to mind thee of it, for thou art framed of the firm truth of valor." She quoted Henry the Fifth.

"Thank you," he replied. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"A letter from Lady Diana, Earl Holbrook's daughter," she replied, "Julius, had you sent her notice about our conversation with Rose?"

"I did," he replied calmly. "I take is she replied? Did he send a letter separately?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I read it and she is delighted to see Lady Rose and I in two days' time."

"What do you need me to do?" he asked.

"Actually, nothing," she said. "I would like to go to speak with Rose myself and then come back and finalize the preparations for the visit. I can handle this meeting without you, Julius. I know she looks up to you and trusts you but I need her to trust me too, and please believe me when I say this without any disrespect, without your shadow hovering over us."

After Julius' revelations about his dark past, Louisa had wished that they'd had more time to be alone, but she did not regret meeting Rose--finally. The girl was delightful, sweet, kind and so innocent, Louisa hoped no one would tear that from Rose… not like how Louisa's na?veté had been taken from her.

"Stay here," she looked to the other man, "Do what you need to, and I will do the same."

Julius stepped back and undid the ties on his hands before tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear, his gaze roaming over her face. "…Be safe."

"Should I take an army of footmen with me?" she teased.

"Take another two than the normal." He said, "I know the carriage man is armed, so there is no issue there. Enjoy the journey and tell Rose if she doesn't want to do this, it's perfectly fine."

"I will," she stepped away and nodded to the other man. "Please don't end up black and blue and I will see you for supper."

Arriving at the Blackwell Estate, the butler let her in and after the asked for Rose, told her the younger miss was in the sunroom, with a book and a tea tray.

"But I assume by this time, the tray will be diminished, so I will have a maid replenish it. Please, this way, I am sure lady Rose will be glad to see you."

She followed the butler to the sunroom and found Rose curled up in a window seat with a book on her lap and nibbling on her thumb.

"Lady Rose." Gregory called. "I apologize for interrupting, but you have a visitor. Lady Louisa is here to see you."

Looking up, Rose face morphed into a delighted on and she sat the book to the side before slipping from the window seat and reaching our a hug. Smiling, Louisa embraced her tightly and asked, "How are you, dear?"

"Very well?" Rose looked over Louisa's shoulder. "Is my brother here?"

"Not this time." She replied. "I came alone because, as well-meaning as Julius is, I think there are some things we girls must talk about by ourselves. And before I forget the reason I am here, Lady Diana has replied and she is ready to visit us in the next two days or at your convenience."

"Oh," Rose blinked. "That's wonderful. But you needn't have come all this way to tell me this. You could have sent a letter or a note."

"I could have sent a letter, but I wanted to come," Louisa noted a the maid that came and whisked the tray away. "I wanted to talk to you woman to woman."

Rose gestured to chairs surrounding a coffee table and they sat. "What did you want to know, oh, before that, you may tell Lady Diana I will be with you in two days."

"I will," Louisa nodded. "But I want to know how you feel, here by yourself for so much time. Does it not drain on you?"

"Well," Rose lifted her slim shoulders. "Julius was here with me for most of the time and he helped me through a lot of it. I do feel guilty though, because my unfortunate circumstance deprived you of your husband—" her face fell in sorrow. "—which should have come first."'

"Julius explained some of what happened to you so I could fill in the blanks of my ignorance and knowing what I know now, I could never fault him for helping you," Louisa said. "But with all that happened, how are you feeling for yourself?"

"I am getting better…but I don't think he will allow himself to see it," Rose said morosely. "I am not the nervous person I was, even if it is little by little. Julius tends to carry the whole world on his shoulders like Atlas.

"Even when he was just a boy, he had, still has, this deep seated need to protect those who are close to him. He looked after me, protected mother from father's drunken ire and then went off to war so we could be safe. I don't think he will let me leave even if I ask him to. He might still think I need to be protected."

After considering her words, Louisa said, "He might resist for a while, but I assume you want to be courted and marry too? I know he only wants the best for you so I have faith that he will relent eventually.

"Do… do you want to marry, Rose? Have a husband? A family? Enjoyment outside of these walls?"

"I would love all that," Rose nodded as a maid rested the refreshed tray on the coffee table, curtsied and left. "But Julius is stuck in his ways. He will worry and fret and decided that no man is worthy of my hand. It might take something apocalyptic to change his mind."

"He cares for you, you know," Rose said out of the blue, causing Louisa's head to snap up. "He is a little broken, Louisa. The things he did in the war follow him like a shadow over him day by day and they haunt him at night."

"He's mentioned that," Louisa nodded. "And I have seen it too."

"Has he told you how crippling they are?" Rose shielded her eyes from the sudden spike of sunlight. "He wakes screaming at times, at others, he paces, unable to lay down at the fear that that the terrors will come back. They take a toll on him, but he never tells me the extent."

"I—" she paused. "—we're getting to that level of honesty with each other, but I have seen a little of it. It is best if Julius comes to me freely and admit what he is feeling instead of my trying to pry it from him."

"That might be best," Rose nodded. "One more thing you should know, Julius is as stubborn as a bull. If you push too hard, he will push back ever further."

"I am beginning to see that," Louisa nodded. "Anyway, I am glad you've agree to see Lady Diana, and trust me, I will be there, by your side if you need me."

"Thank you," Rose smiled, "Shall we have tea before it goes cold?"

That evening, after she had returned, Julius surprised her and sent a maid to fetch for supper. Laid on the table were bowl of soup, flaky soft bread, for dessert, a platter of tarts, bejeweled with dollops delicious jam.

Decided to ignore those— she needed to stick with her slimming plan— Louisa thanked the maid and sent her on her way.

"Lobster consommé." She fixed her gaze on the clear broth. "How wonderful."

"Eat," he ordered, while getting to his feet and headed to the door. "We'll talk when you're feeling better. Don't fret, I'm only getting a bottle of brandy from the cellar."

When he left, Louisa dipped her spoon into the broth and ate. The food was delicious and fortifying, but she hardly noticed it. The past day had felt like something out of a dream—but if it was a good one or a burgeoning on a night terror, that was to be decided.